Yassir Lester Wants to Be on the Cover of Maxim
So we did the next best thing.
I first started following Yassir Lester, a standup comic and writer on Girls, when my friend Josh Gondelman (a comic, writer on Last Week Tonight, and all-around nice human being) retweeted him. Almost serendipitously, he tweeted this about Maxim.
When I searched for that tweet to send it to a colleague, I found that he had also tweeted this about Maxim in 2014, which, for the record, is absolutely true.
Soon, he started a hashtag campaign: #YassirOnMaxim. The goal of #YassirOnMaxim? To get Yassir on the cover of Maxim. (Come on, keep up.)
Even though I have literally zero control over who gets put on the cover of Maxim, I’d wake up to dozens of tweets directed at me, asking for Yassir to grace the cover of Maxim. It was clear that I had to give the people what they wanted: Yassir, on Maxim. So I did the next (next, next) best thing: interviewed him for our site.
So, Yassir, tell me about yourself. I know you’re a standup comic and a writer for Girls. How old are you and how long have you been doing this?
I am 31 years old. I’ve been writing for roughly 13 years and doing standup for eight.
Where are you from, and where do you live now?
I moved a lot, but I am from Marietta, GA in Northwest Atlanta. I currently live in Los Angeles, CA.
What are some of your favorite things to talk about in your standup routine?
My favorite subject to talk about in standup is me because as a living legend and earth shattering artist, I am an endless well of humor, depth, introspection, and anomaly. It astounds me sometimes how complex I am.
I need to ask, why all the Maxim jokes? What was your perception of Maxim growing up?
They come off as jokes but it’s true. Maxim is what every teenage boy thought manhood would be. Sexy women talking candidly to you about what they like in you, learning something scientific about a new car, fashion advice, and then always randomly some weird article about a flesh eating virus or extinction level event on the Horizon. Why did y’all always have those thrown in?
But I truly like Maxim. It was Entourage before Entourage. Like seasons 1-3 though, the good seasons.
Now, you’ve started the #YassirOnMaxim campaign. Why do you want to be on the cover of Maxim?
Well, seeing as how I completely redefined what it means to be a comedian and how I shift the views of thousands with each set I perform, I think it’s only fitting that I do something that defies convention and grace the cover of a magazine that I enjoy and yet would benefit both parties mutually.
I told you that if #YassirOnMaxim gets 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 retweets we could talk about putting you on the cover. Which celebrities would you like to RT #YassirOnMaxim to raise awareness of your cause?
Puff Daddy, Ashton Kutcher, SanaaLathan, Elon Musk, and the cast of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta (Minus Rich Dollaz).
We actually just had our first male cover. Thoughts?
Idris was a good second choice, behind me.
What’s your favorite Maxim cover?
The cover that has never left my mind ever and never will is the Eva Mendes cover. It changed me. It’s what kickstarted my puberty.
Please describe exactly how you’d like your cover shoot to be styled. How would you pose? What would you be wearing? Any props?
I would be in a high rise downtown Hong Kong apartment at night wearing a navy suit lounging on a couch vaping with some InstagramThot.
Eh, we tried our best.